Abstract
Phosphorene, a monolayer of black phosphorus (BP), is an elemental two-dimensional material with interesting physical properties, such as high charge carrier mobility and exotic anisotropic in-plane properties. To fundamentally understand these various physical properties, it is critically important to conduct an atomic-scale structural investigation of phosphorene, particularly regarding various defects and preferred edge configurations. However, it has been challenging to investigate mono- and few-layer phosphorene because of technical difficulties arising in the preparation of a high-quality sample and damages induced during the characterization process. Here, we successfully fabricate high-quality monolayer phosphorene using a controlled thinning process with transmission electron microscopy and subsequently perform atomic-resolution imaging. Graphene protection suppresses the e-beam-induced damage to multilayer BP and one-side graphene protection facilitates the layer-by-layer thinning of the samples, rendering high-quality monolayer and bilayer regions. We also observe the formation of atomic-scale crystalline edges predominantly aligned along the zigzag and (101) terminations, which is originated from edge kinetics under e-beam-induced sputtering process. Our study demonstrates a new method to image and precisely manipulate the thickness and edge configurations of air-sensitive two-dimensional materials.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 559-566 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Nano letters |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 Jan 8 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was mainly supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017R1A5A1014862, NRF-2018R1A2B6008104, and NRF-2019R1C1C1003643), the Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R026-D1), and Yonsei University Future-leading Research Initiative of 2019 (2019-22-0027). K.K. also acknowledges support from the POSCO Science Fellowship of POSCO TJ Park Foundation.
Funding Information:
This work was mainly supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017R1A5A1014862, NRF-2018R1A2B6008104, and NRF-2019R1C1C1003643) the Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R026-D1), and Yonsei University Future-leading Research Initiative of 2019 (2019-22-0027). K.K. also acknowledges support from the POSCO Science Fellowship of POSCO TJ Park Foundation.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Bioengineering
- Chemistry(all)
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanical Engineering